The Sun Always Sets
by First Lord Zero
Summary: It has been ten years since Jaffar left Nino and his twins Lugh and Rei behind. He decides to return to find them, after sinking to the depths of despair. Will he be able to find them? JaffarXNino


_The Sun Always Sets_

Disclaimer: I do not and probably will never own Fire Emblem and its characters.

This is another short piece that sort of serves as a sequel to my earlier piece "The Sun always Rises." I wanted to finish this before I leave for ARML, but ended up finishing it on the bus ride back. Now I'm going to have to start studing for my finals coming up.

So although I feel it's one of my better ideas, I felt I could've done a better job. So please leave a review if you got the time. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

A/N: This story is set about ten years after the events in my previous piece, about the time of FE 5: _Fire Emblem: Fûin no Tsurugi_ (Sword of Seals).

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Ten Years. It was ten years since he had seen her. It was ten years since he had seen his twins. Nino. Lugh. Rei. He wondered how they were. Were they alive? Could they be… No… They had to live. They were worthy of living.

Jaffar silently slid out of his cave dwelling that he had been living in for the past ten years. Every day that passed he cut a groove into the wall of the cave. Now thousands of times later, he reminisced about the time had silently slipped away. Every day seemed exactly like the last. He rubbed his unshaven face thoughtfully. As he started into the nearby stream he saw how much had changed. The last ten years had done much to his face that looked battered and worn. Jaffar knew he looked like he had aged about twenty years.

As he returned to the cave he couldn't tear his thoughts away from Nino and his young twin children. They were all so innocent, and they probably lived everyday with no idea of whether he was a live or dead. The sickening and chilling question of "Were they alive? Were they Alright?" continued to wrack his mind.

Jaffar needed to see them. It had been so long, these past ten years that gradually eroded everything he had in his life. Or rather, everything except for the comforting knowledge of his beloved wife and children able to live a life he was never able to live. Now even that shred of knowledge was taken away. He had nothing, nothing. For the first time, Jaffar truly felt alone in the world.

Maybe he could see them again… Maybe time will now make him truly invisible to the prying eyes of the bounty hunters that had torn him from his family… Maybe he could relive he life that he once had with them as one loving family.

"_Daddy, Daddy one more time!" Lugh screamed cheerfully. _

"_Your father is probably tired. He should take a break before dinner," Nino stated cheerfully as she strode over to the living room in which the twins were playing with their father._

_Jaffar looked down at the twins clutching his legs and he scooped them up and placed the two of them on either shoulder. He looked up amidst the laughter from Nino and Lugh. Even Rei had betrayed a smile._

_Jaffar smiled._

Now it seemed so remote, so far away. The only things he could cling to were the faint memories of happiness in his life. He had to return. He had to see them again. He had to see his beloved wife Nino. He had to see his beloved twins Lugh and Rei. He needed them, and… they need him.

The sun was now already descending into the horizon. Another day had ended.

He was alone.

Jaffar gathered his few tools, cloak, and his twin blades that had once caused so much death and despair, he finally turned to leave. Jaffar turned back to the mountain cave that in a sense, had robbed him of ten years of his life. "But it was really I that robbed me of my life." He silently thought to himself.

He was back in Pharae again. However everything was different. The entire atmosphere seemed to be one of gloom and distress. Could the pall of conflict and strife across the continent be returning again? Surely Nergal and his madness had been destroyed?

Jaffar continued traveling through back to the town he had once lived. He no longer avoided towns or places where other people resided. Surely in the ten years that passed, many no longer hunted for him and those that did… would have a hard time recognizing the face of the once feared Angel of Death.

As he traveled on, passing through the streets of individuals milling around, all conveying misgivings about events in the future, Jaffar realized that he didn't even know if Nino and his children still lived in the town. However it was the place to start and if anything, he would find them. On his honor… No, on his heart.

The sun had risen again, behind the clouds in which the light filtered through, Jaffar silently trudged on through the hills around his former town of residence. It was close to the border of Bern, which under the madness of one innocent Zephidel now again threatened to disturb the fragile peace that once existed. Jaffar made a note to move as far away from the potential carnage as possible. He had seen far too much of war, there was no honor, own murder and death. He looked down at his own hands, "could these really be the hands that had wrought some much death before."

He slowly began to ascend the hill. The hill overlooking the village that held the only joyous memories of his existence. There he could find hope, there he could find his escape from despair. There he could find his guardian angel.

"Nino…" he murmured softly. He ascended the hill.

The town was in ruins. Buildings were crumbling, many of them lay in piles of ash that blackened the scene. Bodies, mostly of men and older boys lay strewn everywhere. So much destruction… So much death… Nino. Lugh. Rei. Where they alright? Could they… Could they have been?

Jaffar sprinted down the hill as fast as his legs would carry him towards the ruins of the village. Sprinting through the former streets he darted into ever building, pushed aside fallen timbers and inspected bodies… looking for the ones he loved. It was terrible… who could have done such a thing? Who was capable of doing such an act to such a peaceful village? Jaffar continued searching but was unable to find any trace of his beloved wife and children. His dread and fear quickly transformed into panic and despair. He struck the wall in a fury and dashed through the town before sinking to his knees. He knew that even Nino would have scolded him for his action but he could do nothing… He had lost them. He had betrayed them. He, Jaffar, had failed them.

As he raged, blinded by his anger over himself and his loss, Jaffar stumbled into the deserted main street. Looking up along the deserted main street littered with the bodies of the fallen, he saw a banner. The banner of Bern. So it was them who did it. It was certainly Zephidel that ordered the invasion of Pharae and probably all of Lycia. A surge of hatred flooded Jaffar's mind. Revenge… Yes… Revenge. He had lived a life of revenge.

Moving ahead he saw footprints. The clumsy Bern soldiers were not exactly adept at concealing their former whereabouts. Jaffar dashed ahead carefully tracking and following the troops, to such an experienced assassin as he, he would have no difficulty finding them.

As the sun traveled to high noon, Jaffar paused to stop. He had followed them for hours. Why was he following them? "Revenge." He thought simply.

"Nino… I will avenge you."

As he traveled on through the heat of the afternoon, he noted that the tracks were still fresh, so they couldn't have been far. Jaffar moved on. There was no turning back.

Jaffar had reached the edge of large forest. Here the tracks stopped. The rain must of have washed away the tracks. Jaffar continued, letting the forest swallowing him up.

Jaffar noticed tents in the distance next to a small clearing. He moved in closer and spotted the imperial standards of Bern. He had found them.

The afternoon was slowly dying as Jaffar crept closer and closer to the encampment. He counted two dozen pitched in a haphazard circle tents and quickly estimated to be about a hundred or so footsoldiers in the camp. Jaffar only noticed half a dozen sentries patrolling the perimeter of the encampment. Suddenly a captain strode out and spoke to one sentry, Jaffar moved closer, ducking behind a grove of trees. Jaffar took a deep breath and tuned his hearing.

"… Make sure you allow none of the prisoners escape!" The captain spoke to the sentry.

"They're a bunch of women and children… what can they do?" the soldier said with a laugh.

"Watch out for the green haired woman… with the twins-"

For the first time in years, Jaffar felt joy. Nino and his children were still alive. Still alive. Jaffar felt reborn, like a phoenix rising out of the ashes of darkness that had once enveloped him. Jaffar didn't move, he didn't speak, he merely sat there taking in those words. There was still hope. The Sun would rise again and shine on another day. Nobody would take away his future, nobody would take away their future.

"… She's a pretty one, captain. Maybe I'll be able to have some fun with her. Besides she needs it, God knows where her husband-"

Jaffar felt nothing but pure rage and hate at the soldier's words. To talk of her as nothing more than a playtoy to be enjoyed by anyone. Nobody should be forced into such torture, especially not someone as innocent as Nino. Jaffar's mind was clouded with anger and hate. He felt not a scrap of pity for the man, not a thought of remorse. He crept closer and closer towards the camp.

Fifty feet. The captain laughed at something. Jaffar only felt his blood boil further, he had already tuned out and was no longer listening.

Forty feet. The man murmured something to himself as he picked his lance and continued to pace.

Thirty feet. Another soldier had come out of a distant tent.

Twenty feet. The other soldier walked up to him and began conversing.

Ten Feet. More laughter. Jaffar had enough. He didn't know what they were laughing about but he didn't care. They would pay for even mentioning such a heinous crime. He drew his blades, and the two soldiers caught the gleam in the late afternoon sun.

"What was- ARRGGGHHHH"

Without giving them enough time to even finish their sentence, Jaffar lunged out through the bushes, his arm traveling in an arc through the air. For a split second he saw the fear and horror on the soldiers' faces. But that meant nothing to him. Jaffar only felt anger and hatred. As his blades turned crimson on the soldiers, he felt nothing. Like years before, he felt nothing as he took the lives of the two soldiers.

As the bodies fell to the ground raising a cloud of dust, several sentries and half a dozen soldiers dashed out of nearby tents to investigate. They looked down and found two bodies and growing pools of red enveloping them. Their eyes still carried the look of unrivaled fear within them. Several soldiers leaned over the bodies, muttering "What in God's name, happened?"

Behind the soldiers gathered at the body of the two soldiers felled by some unknown assassin, light footfall was heard before a few gurgling sounds were heard. As the soldiers turned around, they saw half a dozen soldiers collapsed facedown and unmoving. In the midst of them was an unknown man, blades glinting in the sunlight. His face was covered with a hood, and his cloak billowed behind him carrying the wind. The soldiers stared at Jaffar, before one of them picked up his lance and charge him.

"Get him!" he yelled as the soldier charged Jaffar. Even as the soldier closed the distance, Jaffar stood there unmoving. At the last second, Jaffar shifted his weight to the left, evading the stab of the spear by centimeters, before lunging forward and slashing in a wide arc.

The attacker was dead before he hit the ground. The remaining soldiers backed up from him, brandishing their weapons hoping that their numbers would deter the unknown man.

Jaffar quickly charged forward again, and evaded several stabs from their lances. Slashing in a whirlwind of cuts, he chopped the wooden handles of their lances into pieces. The men quickly scattered yelling and screaming for help. Jaffar dashed after them and quickly brought them down with quick strikes into their backs. No mercy, no hesitation. All around him, he heard voices emerging from the tents at the center of the enemy camp.

At this time other soldiers were emerging from the tents and began forming a circle around Jaffar in the center of camp. The captain emerged behind the phalanx of lances and yelled "You. Put down your weapon, I have over a hundred soldiers in this camp, surely you cannot beat them all."

"And if I don't?" Jaffar stated, his voice completely emotionless. He had become the individual with no fear.

"This is what happens… Soldiers Kill him and Kill him quickly!" The captain screamed. Pulling out his sword, he charged ahead of the closing circle of lances surrounding Jaffar.

Jaffar dashed forward at the captain as the two blades clashed. Reversing his grip on one of his blades, he was able to cut the at lances of the soldiers even as he cut and parried against the captain. The air was thick with fighting and soon a number of soldiers were standing around the captain and Jaffar still battling with useless wooden sticks in their hands.

Snarling in anger the captain quickened his strokes, but Jaffar had already analyzed his swordsmenship. Using both blades to parry, Jaffar fought defensively… waiting for the enemy tired. Even as they whirled, parried and slashed, Jaffar seemed completely weightless and fought effortlessly with minimum shifts of weight and parries that brought the captain's strikes glancing away. Slowly he observed the captain strokes gradually slowing and his breath came more quickly and raggedly and then resumed the offense. Switching from parrying to wide sweeping slashes, he quickly brought the captain off balance. Endgame.

A single slash, faint gurgling and the thudding of a body hitting the floor were all that were heard. The soldiers still stood around, clinging to their useless weapons standing silently.

Jaffar stood silently, although tired, his revenge was not over. Spinning his blades, he charged headlong into the men in front him, slashing wildly. Around him bodies of soldiers fell and everywhere else soldiers tried to flee.

As the dust cleared, Jaffar gazed slowly around. Many bodies of former soldiers lay scattered around him. Jaffar looked at them, the first two soldiers he had killed. Their eyes still fearfully gazed outward to the sky. He looked his blades and his hands, still covered in the blood of dozens of men. A life of revenge, a debt had been paid.

Through the tens shapes were emerging, Jaffar quickly drew his blades. Were there more soldiers still? He approached one and raised his blade… Only to be greeted by cheers from the Lycian citizens streaming out from the tents. They crowded around Jaffar thanking him and bombarding him with countless questions. Still the atmosphere was one of somber happiness, many of them were thankful for their liberation but still mourning the loss of loved ones.

"Jaffar?" A voice rang out that Jaffar would never forget for as long as he lived. A voice that could only belong to his angel. Jaffar turned around.

"Nino!" Jaffar ran to her, and quickly embraced his wife. "It's been too long, Nino. Too long. I was a coward to leave."

Even as Nino buried her face in Jaffar's chest, two children emerged from the tents. "Dad!" They ran to the man they assumed was the father and clung to his waist. No words could describe Jaffar's joy. He had been reunited with his family. They joy of moment overwhelmed him, Jaffar simply stood there, trying to take the events of the last few seconds in. It was all so… unreal.

The sun was slowly setting behind the dense foliage of the forest. Jaffar gazed out into the distance. So much had happened within the past few days, the past few hours, and even the past few seconds. He had come from the depths of despair to soaring in jubilance above the clouds. The sun slowly melted behind the clouds, casting it's radiance for the last few moments of the day. Another day had ended.

But this time he was not alone.

While the others milled around him, Nino detached herself from Jaffar and spoke breathlessly, "Jaffar… It has been too long. For every day you've been away I've lived a year. I don't know how many lifetimes for me have passed. Promise me you'll stay. Stay for our twins. Stay for us all…"

"Upon my heart."

Like before I thought it was a pretty weak ending. I tried to make as many parallels between this piece and the last and I think I succeeded. My writing style is a bit awkward and I think at times I use too much repetition and/or parallel structures.

However I'm still satisfied with the story that I tried to tell. I don't know if I got the times between the two games correct, it was my best guess.

Please drop me a review if you got the time. Thanks!


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